diff --git a/docs/project-roadmap.md b/docs/project-roadmap.md
index a895fe83..6aebe050 100644
--- a/docs/project-roadmap.md
+++ b/docs/project-roadmap.md
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ All major modularization work is complete. The codebase evolved from monolithic
 - **2026-03-17**: Deprecated user-facing GLMT discovery across CLI help, completions, presets, and docs. Existing `glmt` profiles now run through a compatibility path that normalizes legacy proxy settings to the direct GLM endpoint.
 - **#748**: API profile creation now keeps provider selection compact by collapsing advanced presets behind an explicit toggle, shrinking chooser cards so the form fields stay visually primary, and giving `llama.cpp` a dedicated provider logo.
 - **#744**: API profile creation now keeps featured providers in a horizontal rail with scroll fallback, moves Anthropic Direct API to the end, reuses the shared Claude logo, and separates the custom-endpoint entry point from advanced template discovery.
-- **#724**: Codex startup is now free-plan safe. CCS defaults new Codex sessions to a cross-plan model and auto-repairs stale paid-only Codex defaults when the active account is on the free plan.
+- **#724**: Codex startup is now free-plan safe. CCS defaults new Codex sessions to a cross-plan model and uses runtime fallback handling for unsupported paid-only models without rewriting the saved dashboard settings.
 - **#737**: Dashboard model pickers in Cursor, Copilot, and CLIProxy now use a searchable combobox with autofocus and explicit no-results states for large model catalogs.
 - **#736**: `ccs config` now supports explicit dashboard bind hosts via `--host`, and surfaces remote-access warnings plus reachable URLs when the effective bind is non-loopback.
 
diff --git a/src/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility.ts b/src/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility.ts
index ab524926..95506089 100644
--- a/src/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility.ts
+++ b/src/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { getProviderCatalog } from './model-catalog';
 import { fetchCodexQuota } from './quota-fetcher-codex';
 import { getCachedQuota, setCachedQuota } from './quota-response-cache';
 import type { CodexQuotaResult } from './quota-types';
-import { updateSettingsModel } from './services/variant-settings';
 import { info, warn } from '../utils/ui';
 
 export type CodexPlanType = CodexQuotaResult['planType'];
@@ -140,13 +139,12 @@ export function resolveRuntimeCodexFallbackModel(options: {
 
 export async function reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
   options: {
-    settingsPath: string;
     currentModel: string | undefined;
     verbose: boolean;
   },
   deps: CodexPlanCompatibilityDeps = {}
 ): Promise<void> {
-  const { settingsPath, currentModel, verbose } = options;
+  const { currentModel, verbose } = options;
   if (!currentModel) return;
 
   const fallbackModel = getFreePlanFallbackCodexModel(currentModel);
@@ -175,13 +173,10 @@ export async function reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
   }
 
   if (quota.planType === 'free') {
-    updateSettingsModel(settingsPath, fallbackModel, 'codex', {
-      rewriteHaikuModel: (haikuModel) => getFreePlanFallbackCodexModel(haikuModel) ?? haikuModel,
-    });
     console.error(
       formatInfo(
-        `Codex free plan detected. Switched unsupported model "${normalizeCodexModelId(currentModel)}" ` +
-          `to "${fallbackModel}".`
+        `Codex free plan detected. Keeping saved model "${normalizeCodexModelId(currentModel)}" in settings; ` +
+          `runtime requests will fall back to "${fallbackModel}" when needed.`
       )
     );
     return;
diff --git a/src/cliproxy/executor/index.ts b/src/cliproxy/executor/index.ts
index 22771bb4..625216ec 100644
--- a/src/cliproxy/executor/index.ts
+++ b/src/cliproxy/executor/index.ts
@@ -883,7 +883,6 @@ export async function execClaudeWithCLIProxy(
 
   if (provider === 'codex' && !cfg.isComposite && !skipLocalAuth) {
     await reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan({
-      settingsPath: cfg.customSettingsPath || getProviderSettingsPath(provider),
       currentModel: getCurrentModel(provider, cfg.customSettingsPath),
       verbose,
     });
diff --git a/tests/unit/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility-reconcile.test.ts b/tests/unit/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility-reconcile.test.ts
index b58148e2..4cdca89f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility-reconcile.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/cliproxy/codex-plan-compatibility-reconcile.test.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ async function importCompatibilityModule(cacheTag: string) {
 const identity = (message: string) => message;
 
 describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
-  it('repairs stale paid-only Codex settings for free-plan accounts before launch', async () => {
+  it('keeps saved Codex settings intact and warns about runtime fallback for free-plan accounts', async () => {
     const { tmpDir, settingsPath } = createCodexSettingsFixture('gpt-5.3-codex-spark');
     const errorSpy = spyOn(console, 'error').mockImplementation(() => {});
 
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
 
       await reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
         {
-          settingsPath,
           currentModel: 'gpt-5.3-codex',
           verbose: false,
         },
@@ -76,12 +75,12 @@ describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
       const repaired = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(settingsPath, 'utf-8')) as {
         env: Record<string, string>;
       };
-      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5-codex');
-      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5-codex');
-      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5-codex');
-      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5-codex-mini');
+      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5.3-codex');
+      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5.3-codex');
+      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5.3-codex');
+      expect(repaired.env.ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL).toBe('gpt-5.3-codex-spark');
       expect(errorSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        'Codex free plan detected. Switched unsupported model "gpt-5.3-codex" to "gpt-5-codex".'
+        'Codex free plan detected. Keeping saved model "gpt-5.3-codex" in settings; runtime requests will fall back to "gpt-5-codex" when needed.'
       );
     } finally {
       fs.rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
@@ -98,7 +97,6 @@ describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
 
       await reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
         {
-          settingsPath,
           currentModel: 'gpt-5.3-codex',
           verbose: false,
         },
@@ -134,7 +132,6 @@ describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
 
         await reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
           {
-            settingsPath,
             currentModel: 'gpt-5.3-codex',
             verbose: false,
           },
@@ -174,7 +171,6 @@ describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
 
       await reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
         {
-          settingsPath,
           currentModel: 'gpt-5.3-codex',
           verbose: false,
         },
@@ -216,7 +212,6 @@ describe('codex plan compatibility reconcile', () => {
 
       await reconcileCodexModelForActivePlan(
         {
-          settingsPath,
           currentModel: 'gpt-5.3-codex',
           verbose: false,
         },